Kasaragod: CPI state secretary Binoy Viswam on Tuesday said the state government should not delay organising the cinema conclave intended to formulate a policy for the Malayalam movie industry but cautioned against putting the victims and the predators on the same platform.
The LDF government has scheduled the conclave in Kochi in November but the proposed event has run into trouble after it included actor and CPM MLA from Kollam Mukesh M in the policy-making committee. "There should be interaction among the stakeholders as serious allegations have come up. But predators cannot lord over the victims. They cannot be allowed to share the same platform," Binoy Viswam told reporters in Kasaragod. He also said it was "not appropriate" to delay the event till November.
Binoy Viswam's Communist Party of India (CPI) and Pinarayi Vijayan's Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPM] are allies and together run the LDF government.
The cinema conclave is being organised against the backdrop of the Justice Hema Committee report by the Kerala State Film Development Corporation (KSFDC), headed by movie maker Shaji N Karun.
Viswam, however, said that the immediate concern was to protect the rights and opportunities of those who were discriminated against, those who had to shed their tears, and preyed upon in the cinema industry.
The CPI leader also welcomed the mass resignation of the executive committee of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) and actor Mohanlal as the president of the organisation on Tuesday. An alternative organisation should come up after correcting the mistakes of AMMA, he said. "Organised forces, wielding money power and reinforcing male supremacy, committed acts that disgraced a revered word like ‘Amma’ (meaning mother). If the AMMA executive committee is disbanded, it is a good thing," Binoy Viswam said.
A new organisation should come up that would guarantee equal opportunities to women, uphold their dignity and Malayalam cinema's reputation, he said.
He said the CPI's All India Trade Union Congress was the first trade union in the Malayalam movie industry. It was a big platform, a cultural trade union protecting the rights of technicians, spot boys, scriptwriters, assistant directors, makeup persons and costume designers. "That trade union was destroyed by AMMA," Binoy Viswam said.
They boycotted Thilakan, one of Malayalam cinema's greatest actors; popular filmmaker Vinayan also faced the same fate, he said. "They are the same forces who indulged in illegal activities to control the women in the industry," the CPI leader said.